Congressman Howard Berman Urges California Secretary Of State To Drop “Province of China” Reference

In a letter dated April 30, 2012, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs committee Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) called on the California Secretary of State to correct an error in its online voter registration system that forces Taiwan-born California residents to list their place of birth as “Taiwan, Province of China.”

In the past weeks, numerous Taiwanese Americans in California tried to register to vote online, but were unable to enter their country of birth as “Taiwan”, because the drop down menu for the internet-based voter registration system in California does not allow for such an option. Instead, the system refers to Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China.”

Rep. Howard Berman caught wind of this and wrote today to California Secretary of State Debra L. Bowen that: “With the May 15 registration deadline quickly approaching for California voters, Taiwan-born U.S. citizens in California will be unable to register to vote without signing their name under an inaccurate statement in an official government document.”

Berman continued: “It has been long-standing U.S. policy that the U.S. government refers to Taiwan as ‘Taiwan.’  Federal and quasi-federal agencies such as Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. State Department, all refer to Taiwan simply as “Taiwan.” He concluded: “I would respectfully request that your office, as a government agency, adopt the same terminology in reference to Taiwan.”

In 1994, Rep. Berman was the primary force behind US legislation allowing for Taiwanese Americans to list “Taiwan” as their place of birth in their American passports instead of “China.”

In response, FAPA President Mark Kao, PhD states: “Taiwanese Americans are very grateful to Congressman Berman for his continued leadership in ensuring that Taiwan’s sovereignty is not an issue with which one can play politics.”

Dr. Kao concludes: “It is incontestable reality that Taiwan is NOT a province of China. Taiwan is a sovereign independent country with its own elected president, its own military, legislature, stock exchange etc… If American citizens travel to Taiwan, the Chinese embassy is unable to issue a visa to Taiwan. And vice versa: if American citizens travel to China, the Taiwan representative in the United States is unable to issue a visa for China.”

柏曼眾議員呼籲加州州務卿修正「中國台灣省」的稱呼

四月三十日，美國眾議院外交委員會副主席—加州民主黨議員豪爾德˙柏曼 (Howard Berman, D-CA) 寄信呼籲加州州務卿修正該州選民線上註冊系統中的錯誤。該錯誤迫使台裔加州居民必須將其出生地填寫為「中國台灣省」。

過去幾週，許多居住加州的台裔美籍公民嘗試上網登記投票時，發現無法將自己的出生地列為「台灣」，因為線上登記系統的選單中並未提供「台灣」的選項，而是將台灣列為「中國台灣省」。

柏曼眾議員獲知此事後於今日稍早寫信給加州州務卿黛博拉・包雯 (Debra Bowen)，信中寫道：「加州州民的選舉登記期限將屆（五月十五日），台裔美籍的加州公民若想要登記投票，勢必要在載有錯誤資訊的官方文件上簽署方能登記投票。」

柏曼於信中亦提到：「美國政府長久以來的政策一直將台灣稱之為『台灣』。美國國務院、各聯邦機構及諸如美國國鐵或是美國郵政署等準聯邦機構都將台灣稱之為『台灣』。本人在此亦懇請貴單位，既為政府機構，亦應比照辦理。」

早於一九九四年，柏曼議員即為立法准許台美公民於其美國護照中將出生地列為「台灣」而非「中國」的大力推手。

台灣人公共事務協會（FAPA）會長高龍榮博士說道：「台美人社團十分感激柏曼眾議員對於維護台灣主權不淪為政治操弄的犧牲品持續的努力。」

高博士總結道：「台灣不是中國的一省是不可否認的事實。台灣有其民選的總統、自己的軍隊及股票市場等。若美國公民要去台灣，中國大使館是無法發給台灣簽證的，反之亦然：若美國公民欲赴中國，台灣駐美代表亦無法發給其中國簽證。」

Press Release from Rep. Berman

Berman: “The Taiwanese-American community in California is proud of their heritage and birthplace.  It is unfair to force members of this community to list ‘Taiwan, Province of China’ as their country of birth when they register to vote online, when their true birthplace is Taiwan.  Our federal government uses the term Taiwan and the state of California should do the same.”

Valley Village, CA – U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman wrote California Secretary of State Debra Bowen today, asking that California residents born in Taiwan registering to vote online be allowed to list their country of birth as Taiwan, rather than Taiwan, Province of China as the system currently allows.

“The Taiwanese-American community in California is proud of their heritage and birthplace,” said U.S. Rep. Howard Berman. “It is unfair to force members of this community to list ‘Taiwan, Province of China’ as their country of birth when they register to vote online, when their birthplace is Taiwan. Our federal government uses the term Taiwan and the state of California should do the same.”

A longtime champion on this issue, Rep. Berman passed legislation allowing Taiwanese-Americans to have “Taiwan” recorded as their birthplace on their American passports.  Berman authored H.R. 5034 along with then Rep. Olympia Snow (R-ME) in September 1994 providing the U.S. Secretary of State the authority to write Taiwan as the place of birth in a passport when requested by the applicant who was born there.  The bill passed and was signed into law.  Until then, “China” had been listed as the birthplace for Taiwanese Americans.

In the letter to Secretary of State Bowen, Berman writes: “It has been long-standing U.S. policy that the U.S. government refers to Taiwan as ‘Taiwan.’ Federal and quasi-federal agencies such as Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. State Department, all refer to Taiwan simply as “Taiwan.” I would respectfully request that your office, as a government agency, adopt the same terminology in reference to Taiwan.”

Translated Text of April 30, 2012 Letter from Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) to California Secretary of State Debra L. Bowen

包雯州務卿：

此信是為表達我對一件選民註冊的問題以及對於「台灣」一詞使用方法的關切。近日得知加州州民於線上登記投票時，無法將其出生地輸入為「台灣」（Taiwan），因為註冊系統並未提供「台灣」這個選項，而是將台灣列為「中國台灣省」（Taiwan, Province of China）。

美國政府長久以來的政策一直將台灣稱之為「台灣」。美國國務院、各聯邦機構及諸如美國國鐵或是美國郵政署等準聯邦機構都將台灣稱之為「台灣」。本人在此亦懇請貴單位，既為政府機構，亦應比照辦理。

加州州民的選舉登記期限將屆（五月十五日），台裔美籍的加州公民若想要登記投票，勢必要在載有錯誤資訊的官方文件上簽署方能登記投票。有鑑於此事之急迫性，請您盡速修正這項錯誤，本人在此亦表感激之意。

豪爾德・柏曼

外交委員會副主席

Photo Credit: Andrew Feinberg (Flickr)

The post Congressman Howard Berman Urges California Secretary Of State To Drop “Province of China” Reference appeared first on Formosan Association for Public Affairs.

Taiwanese-Americans Disturbed By WHO Memo

Ma administration’s “international space” is illusory

The disclosure in Taiwan of an internal World Health Organization memo instructing its agencies to refer to Taiwan as “province of China” has sent shock waves through the overseas Taiwanese community.

The memo, dated September 14^th 2010, states that procedures used by the WHO to facilitate relations with Taiwan were subject to Chinese approval.  The memo further states that Taiwan “as a province of China, cannot be party to the International Health Regulations (IHR).”

The information in the memo stands in stark contrast to the image presented by the Ma Ying-jeou administration, which emphasized that Taiwan’s observership – started in 2009 – amounted to “substantive participation” and had come about as a result of direct negotiations with the WHO, without Chinese involvement.

FAPA President Bob Yang states in response to the revelation: “”The episode shows that the Ma administration has been deceptive, and given the Taiwan public an unwarranted rosy picture of the situation.  The fact of the matter is that Taiwan’s participation is an empty shell, without any substance. This memo shows clearly the failure of the Ma administration’s policies to gain international space.”

Dr. Yang adds: “China continues to block real participation by Taiwan’s medical specialists in the WHO.  This is a severe infringement on the basic rights of the Taiwanese people and a threat to the important exchange of health information through the WHO. By agreeing to Chinese demands and conditions, the WHO has violated the principle of universality for which it should stand.”

Dr. Yang concludes: “China’s motives are clear. It wants to absorb Taiwan and leave it no international space whatsoever.  We do urge the United States government and other leaders in the international community to reject the imposition of such conditions and accept Taiwan as a full and equal member of the international community.”

台美人就世界衛生組織文件表達不滿

馬政府的「國際空間」不過是空談

海外的台灣人社區對世界衛生組織內部文件被揭發，內文指示其相關單位，以「中國省份」來稱呼台灣，感到震驚。

此份於2010年9月14日發出的密函，同時註記了世衛組織在與台灣聯繫的過程，都必須受到中國同意。密函也表示，台灣「身為中國的一省，無法參與國際衛生條例(IHR)。」

這份密函的內容，與馬英九政府一直以來試圖呈現出的景況，正好相反。馬政府強調，自2009年台灣取得觀察員地位以來，台灣「實質參與」了世衛活動，而這樣的結果是與世衛組織直接交涉的結果，而不是透過中國。

台灣人公共事務會會長楊英育就此事被揭露回應:「這樣的事件顯示出馬政府這些時日以來欺瞞台灣大眾，並誤導群眾相信前景一片看好。事實上，台灣的參與只是個空殼，虛有其表。這份文件凸顯馬政府拓展國際空間外交政策的失敗。」

他並補充:「中國持續地阻擋台灣醫學專家在世衛組織的實質參與。這嚴重侵犯了台灣人民的基本權益，並對透過世衛組織所獲得的重要衛生訊息交換造成威脅。世衛組織因屈服於中國的要求及條件，違背了它應該維護的普世價值。」

楊會長最後指出:「中國的動機是相當明顯的。它想要併吞台灣，不留下一絲一毫國際空間給台灣。我們呼籲美國政府及其他國際社會的領導者，拒絕這樣不合理的條件要求，並接受台灣成為國際社會中與他國平起平坐的一員。」

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The post Taiwanese-Americans Disturbed By WHO Memo appeared first on Formosan Association for Public Affairs.

FAPA Writes To National Security Council Protesting Its Taiwan Sovereignty Statement

Mr. Dennis Wilder
National Security Council
The White House

Dear Mr. Wilder,

As an organization of Taiwanese-Americans with 56 chapters around the United States, we would like to react to your statement yesterday regarding Taiwan’s UN referendum and that country’s quest to become a new member of the United Nations.

You state that membership in the United Nations requires statehood, and then add: “Taiwan, or the Republic of China, is not at this point a state in the international community”, and you say that “…Taiwan is not going to be able to join the United Nations under current circumstances.”

This point is based on a widespread misperception: one has to distinguish between “being a state” and “recognition by other nations.”  Let me elaborate:

The most authoritative – and internationally-accepted — definition of being a nation state is given in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States (to which the US is a signatory), which gives the following qualification for recognition as a nation state: 1) a defined territory, 2) a permanent population, 3) a government capable of entering into relations with other nations.  Taiwan fulfills all these requirements: it is thus a nation-state.  Indeed it has diplomatic ties with 24 – albeit small – nations.

Recognition by other nations is not a pre-condition: if you go back into the history of the United States, you will find that for the first couple of years of its existence, the US was not recognized by any nation, and it only attained the number of 24 diplomatic ties in 1848 – some 72 years after the Declaration of Independence.  Was the US therefore not a nation–state during that time?

In the case of Taiwan, the issue is also “recognized as what?”: until only 15 years ago, the Kuomintang authorities still claimed recognition as government of China.  That claim was indeed not recognized by the international community.

However, after its remarkable transition to democracy in the early 1990s, there is now a free and democratic Taiwan, which only claims to represent itself.  We should not let its future be held hostage to either the unsavory legacy of the former repressive Chinese Nationalist rulers on the island, or the dictates of the present Chinese Communist rulers of the PRC.

Taiwan is a full-fledged democracy of world citizens, who want their country to be a full and equal member of the international community.  If we are serious about supporting democracy around the world, then we need to nurture the island’s fragile democracy, and support its desire to join international organizations such as the UN and WHO.  Taiwan can join the UN, if the United States and other Western nations have the political will to stand up for their basic principles of human rights and democracy.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you,

Prof. Wen-yen Chen
Executive Director, Formosan Association for Public Affairs

Photo Credit: AgnosticPreachersKid (Wikimedia Commons)

The post FAPA Writes To National Security Council Protesting Its Taiwan Sovereignty Statement appeared first on Formosan Association for Public Affairs.

FAPA Protests UN Secretary General’s Stance On Taiwan

On August 3rd 2007, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to strongly protest his decision not to relay Taiwan’s request for admission to the General Assembly and the Security Council.  The Association in particular criticized Mr. Ban’s argument that under General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, the UN considers “that Taiwan is part of China.”

The Association refers to the full text of the Resolution, and shows that it doesn’t even refer to “Taiwan.”   In the letter, it explains that the issue in 1971 was “which government represented China”, the Chinese Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek or the government of the PRC in Beijing.  FAPA states that the “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” were not expelled because they represented Taiwan, but that “… they were expelled because they claimed to represent China.”

FAPA goes on to state that the status of Taiwan should be determined in accordance with the decisions of the 1951-52 San Francisco Peace Treaty, when it was decided that Japan would cede sovereignty over Taiwan, and delegates expressed the view that the island’s future would be decided according to the principles laid down in the Charter of the UN, i.e. self-determination.

The letter states that the DPP government of Chen Shui-bian clearly reflected the wishes of the large majority of the people in Taiwan when it submitted its application for Taiwan membership.  The Association urges Mr. Ban to “live up to the basic principles of human rights, democracy and self-determination” and help facilitate entry of Taiwan into the UN.  It argues that the Taiwanese people have “worked long and hard for their democracy, freedom, and independence” and that peace can only be secured if the island “gains a full and equal place among the international family of nations.

FAPA is a grass-roots organization of Taiwanese Americans.  It has 56 chapters across the United States, and has as its goal to “promote international support for the right op the people of Taiwan to establish an independent and democratic country, and to join the international community.”

Full Text of the Letter

H.E. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York NY 10017  USA                                          

Your Excellency,

As an organization of Americans of Taiwanese descent, we take strong exception to your decision not to relay the request to admission of Taiwan as a member of the United Nations — submitted by the democratically- elected government in Taiwan led by President Chen Shui-bian — to the General Assembly and the Security Council.

In particular, we reject your argument that under General Assembly Resolution 2758, the UN took the position “that Taiwan is part of China.”   This is contrary to the facts: if you read Resolution 2758 carefully (see attachment no. 1), you will see that it doesn’t even mention Taiwan.  The issue under consideration in Resolution 2758 was which government represented China.  Until that time, the Chinese Nationalists had represented China, and their seat was granted to the government of the PRC in Beijing.

The fundamental flaw in your argument is that you equate the “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” with Taiwan. But Chiang and his representatives were not expelled in 1971 because they represented Taiwan, they were expelled because they claimed to represent China. They did not represent the Taiwanese in any fashion: the island was under martial law from 1949 until 1987.  Note that after the democratic transition in Taiwan in the late 1980s early 1990s, they were also expelled from office in Taiwan — through democratic elections.

On Taiwan’s status, there is a much earlier (and more important) international document, the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951-52, in which Japan formally ceded sovereignty over Taiwan.  Delegates at the San Francisco conference voiced the opinion that the status of Taiwan needed to be determined “in due time, in accord with the purposes and principles as laid down in the Charter of the UN” (i.e. self-determination).

Taiwan now has a democratic government, led by the Democratic Progressive Party of President Chen Shui-bian.  This government clearly reflected the wishes of the large majority of the people on the island when it submitted its application for UN membership to you on July 19^th 2007.

If the United Nations wants to be a truly “universal” organization, it needs to take Taiwan’s application seriously.  Article 1.2 of the Charter of the United Nations states that it is the purpose of the UN:

“To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;”

Taiwan is a democratic nation: it fulfills all the criteria for a nation-state as defined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention: a defined territory, a permanent population, and a government which is capable of entering into diplomatic relations with other states.  In fact, it has diplomatic ties with 24 UN member states.

We urge you to live up to the basic principles of human rights, democracy and self-determination which lay at the foundation of the establishment of the United Nations, reconsider your position, and facilitate the entry of Taiwan into the United Nations.  The Taiwanese people have worked long and hard for their democracy, freedom and independence, and should gain a full and equal place among the international family of nations.  Only then can peace be secured.

Sincerely,

C.T. Lee MD
President, Formosan Association for Public Affairs

Attachment no. 1

2758 (XXVI). Restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations

The General Assembly,

Recalling the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Considering the restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China is essential both for the protection of the Charter of the United Nations and for the cause that the United Nations must serve under the Charter,

Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that the People’s Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council,

Decides to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.

1967th plenary meeting,
25 October 1971.

Photo Credit: Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (Flickr)

The post FAPA Protests UN Secretary General’s Stance On Taiwan appeared first on Formosan Association for Public Affairs.

Pressed By FAPA, USPS Drops China Reference

Since AMTRAK dropped its reference to “China” this past July when referring to Taiwan on its billing page pressed by FAPA, FAPA has received overwhelming support from Taiwan and from Taiwanese Americans for FAPA’s name rectification campaign. In its latest endeavor in this field FAPA urged the United States Postal Services (USPS) to drop the China reference on its website where the USPS referred to Taiwan as a province of China.

In a letter from USPS dated May 9, the USPS stated that it agreed to make the correction, drop the China reference, and apologized to FAPA for this error.

In its earlier letter to the CEO of the USPS in April, FAPA urged the USPS, a corporation created by the United States Congress, to adhere to the State Department guidelines. In a 1996 State Department unclassified memorandum providing guidelines on U.S. relations with Taiwan, the State Department states that, since the United States has no diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, U.S. officials need to refer to Taiwan simply as “Taiwan.”

James P. Wade, Vice President of International Business of the USPS, responded in the letter that “..insofar as this incident appears to be an isolated exception in the USPS’s compliance with this U.S. State Department guideline. As a rule, the listing in the USPS’ publications and in the USPS’ online applications all make reference to “Taiwan.” He continued, “I am pleased to announce that we have already contacted the USPS website programmers to make the change you request….I apologize for any anxiety this might have caused your constituency.”

FAPA President C.T. Lee said, “We applaud this immediate response from the USPS. Unfortunately and unbelievably, the China reference, when referring to Taiwan, is rampant in the international community. It takes time and persistence to point out to the international community the factual reality that Taiwan is not a province of China. And FAPA is determined and prepared to do just that!”

美國郵政總局回應FAPA要求，為台灣正名

由於FAPA於去年成功促請AMTRAK改正其網站，不再加註台灣為中國一省後，獲得許多來自台灣民眾以及台美人的廣大迴響。FAPA於月前再次接受FAPA會員請託，呼籲美國郵政總局(USPS, United States Postal Services)能夠更正網站，不要在台灣之後加註中國一省等不正確字樣。據FAPA瞭解，郵政總局是在其網站裡的「更新住址」部份，誤將台灣列為中國一省。

FAPA於日前接獲美國郵政總局的正式回函，表示已經應FAPA要求更正其網站，郵政總局並在信中致歉。

FAPA在四月初致USPS的信裡表示，USPS為一由美國國會所創立的企業，應該遵循美國政府（國務院）所訂定的準則。FAPA並在信中引述，國務院1996年的備忘錄裡曾要求所有政府相關部門以及其官員在往後提及台灣時，一律以「Taiwan」稱之，並不得使用其他名稱。FAPA也在信裡提及AMTRAK去年的成功案例。

郵政總局在這封五月九日的回函裡表示：「…這個事件為獨立個案，因為郵政總局一向遵守國務院的規定。正因為這樣的規定，所有郵政總局的出版物，以及相關網站都直接以英文名稱Taiwan稱呼台灣。」郵政總局接著表示：「我向您為了這個事件造成您會員任何不滿的地方致上歉意。…我很高興的向您表示我們已經通知USPS的網站工程師，根據您的要求修改網站。」

FAPA會長李青泰表示：「FAPA非常感謝美國郵政總局在短短的時間之內，回覆我們的要求。這種誤將台灣加註為中國一省的情形是不勝枚舉;這樣的敍述不僅與國際現實不合，有損台灣國格，更容易造成使用者的困擾。FAPA將繼續在國際社會為台灣正名努力！」

Photo Credit: IFCAR (Wikimedia Commons)

The post Pressed By FAPA, USPS Drops China Reference appeared first on Formosan Association for Public Affairs.